The 2001 Daytona 500 is remembered as one of the darkest days in NASCAR history. Legendary driver and icon of the sport, Dale Earnhardt lost his life in a last-lap crash. If there’s a mention of the 2001 Daytona 500, the images of Dale Sr.’s horrifying crashes and stories are something that always comes to our mind. However, this last-lap accident wasn’t the only big incident that happened in the race.

Superspeedways are known for big ones, and before Dale Sr.’s crash, an 18-car pileup on Lap 173 brought the race to a halt. Ward Burton made contact with Robby Gordon, and Tony Stewart was the one who had it worse. The former SHR co-owner shared the inside details of what happened in that crash as an old video of him talking to Jeff Gordon resurfaces.

Tony Stewart recalls his near-death experience during the 2001 Daytona 500

NASCAR races and events were indeed life-threatening back in the day. The drivers didn’t have the safety features on the race car or the tracks when they ran at high speeds. Just before the 2001 Daytona 500, driver Kenny Irwin, one of Stewart’s fiercest rivals, lost his life at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. But no one could’ve expected the pain and misery NASCAR’s marquee event would dish out in 2001.

In the old video clip that resurfaced online, Tony Stewart was showing his wrecked race cars to Jeff Gordon. And this is when he stumbled upon the No. 20 Pontiac that was in pieces. “Why is this a memory you want to relive?” Gordon asked, to which Stewart replied, “Well, it’s not actually. Obviously this was 25 laps before we lost a good buddy of ours with Dale Sr., but this was the crash that I was involved in where physically on the racetrack I was three wide but just enough ahead of the guys.”

Stewart was running in the lead pack when Ward Burton and Robby Gordon made contact. The #20 car initially hit the wall and then bounced off in the air, barrel rolling. “At the time this happened, I was running third at the Daytona 500 and got turned into the wall, and air got underneath and picked up, and I landed on top of my teammate Bobby Labonte, who was running 23rd. I remember being in the infield and stopped and Bobby Labonte, with his head right here, goes, You alright? I’m like, Yeah, I’m fine.” Stewart added.

Very few race fans remember Stewart being involved in this bone-chilling crash. Perhaps the reason behind this is that Dale Sr.’s death shook the NASCAR world at the time. Interestingly, Smoke was also one of the last people to have seen Dale Sr. in person as they were taken to the same hospital.

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Stewart recalls the moment he knew about Dale Sr.’s tragic incident

After his horrifying crash, Stewart was taken to a nearby hospital, Halifax Medical Center, in Daytona Beach. By this time, he had no idea that Dale Sr. was involved in a huge crash and was being transported to the same hospital. At the time, no one knew how badly Earnhardt was injured and whether he would be able to make it. But, when Stewart accidentally got a sneak peek of him in the hospital, he knew something bad had happened.

“When they accidentally rolled me in the same room he was in,” Stewart replied to the question on when he knew about Dale Earnhardt being involved in a crash. “So I had already been there; they had done all the scans on me, and they went to put me back in a room, and they had already put Dale in the same room. They accidentally put me in there, and I was only in there a second, but I knew when I saw Dale it wasn’t good.” He explained further.

Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s death was the last fatality NASCAR has faced. The sport has since then invested heavily in the safety of the drivers as well as the race tracks. From SAFER barriers to the HANS (Head and Neck Safety) device, the sport has come a long way to ensure something as tragic as that never happens again.